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Monday, October 31, 2011

Coming Home

On our last morning in Hawaii, we had to check out of the resort by 10:00 a.m. which we did and then we just hung out by the beach for a little while and then by the pools in the shade. We were able to rent a locker space in the workout room for the guys so they could sunbathe, swim and then shower before leaving for airport. Barb and I decided to just shower in our room before checkout and dress in shorts for the day.

Gerry and Bill took a last dip in the ocean and Gerry took a walk out on the sandbar and got some great shots of the resort. I would post some of those pictures, but we are trying to track down my camera which I think may still be on the plane (hopefully it will turn up).

We stopped for lunch at Kalapaki Joe's on our way to the airport. I feasted on fish and chips which were absolutely wonderful!

We flew from Kauai to Honolulu where Bill and Barb are staying for another week. Meanwhile Gerry and I watched the rest of the disappointing Cowboys game at the aiport before boarding our flight to Dallas. We took off at 6:40 p.m. and landed this morning at DFW at about 7:00 (the actual flying time is about 7 1/2 hours). We did manage to sleep quite a bit of the time. I think it may be during this sleeping time that I may have dislodged the camera from my purse which was under the seat in front of me. Hopefully we will track it down since I would hate to lose the last day of our pictures.

I spent the day doing laundry, watching lots of cooking shows and catching lots of nap all day. I really catnapped all day and at 8:00 tonight this is the most awake I have felt all day.

On another note, I had recently found a co-op style produce system which gets me a crate of organic, locally grown produce which is like a CSA that I have been trying to find for a couple of years now. It is called Urban Acres and I stumbled upon it by accident at a pick up point in McKinney. I promptly signed up for a full crate that Val and I will split every two weeks. The first pick-up happened to be this past Saturday while I was kayaking up a river and hiking in Kauai so Val picked it up for us.

It was wonderful to see all the fresh produce in the crate. There were so many choices for dinner since there was so many greens along with some fruits and some potatoes. I opted for Leek and Potato Soup along with Kale Chips since all three of those items were in the crate and it is a Meatless Monday. Both of these recipes were wonderful.

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat then add onions and leeks. Cook, stirring, until onions are limp and just slightly brown.

Add sliced potatoes to saucepan then pour in enough vegetable broth to just barely cover the potatoes. Continue cooking over medium heat until potatoes are tender. Using a potato masher or an immersion blender, mash or blend potatoes until desired consistency is reached. As you mash the potatoes and the soup thickens, turn down heat and stir frequently with a large spoon to prevent scorching on the bottom.

Add 3/4 cup of heavy cream (or more if you desire) and salt and black pepper to taste. Cook 15 minutes more over low heat, stirring frequently, then remove from heat and serve.

Preheat convection or regular oven to 250 degrees. Meanwhile remove stems from kale leaves and cut lengthwise in half. Drizzle the leaves with olive oil and sprinkle with salt before spreading in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes in a convection or 30 minutes in a regular oven, and then spread them on a cooling rack to stay crispy.

This was a wonderful meal for our first meatless Monday after our travels.